Blavity’s Shadow and Act has the exclusive trailer debut for Prime Video‘s upcoming YA drama series, Beyond Black Beauty.
Here’s the official synopsis for the series:
Beyond Black Beauty follows young equestrian Jolie Dumont whose Olympic dreams are dashed when her mother moves them from Belgium to her family’s urban ranch in Baltimore. An angry Jolie wants to escape until she bonds with a spirited horse named Black Beauty. Jolie will learn to embrace her heritage while continuing toward her Olympic-hopeful future and discover the value of family and home.
Led by Kaya Coleman as Jolie Dumont, the series also stars Sagine Sémajuste, Gina James, Lisa Berry and Gilles Marini.
When does Beyond Black Beauty premeire in the U.S.?
All 11 episodes will drop Oct. 15 on Prime Video in both the United States and the United Kingdom.
The series is produced by Amazon MGM Studios and Sinking Ship. Executive producers are Leif and Agnes Bristow, Blair Powers, Carla de Jong, Pilar Golden, and J.J. Johnson for Sinking Ship and Amazon MGM Studios. Pilar Golden is the creator, executive producer and showrunner.
Beyond Black Beauty is executive produced by Pilar Golden, Carla de Jong, Blair Powers, J.J. Johnson, Leif Bristow, Agnes Bristow, Hubert Toint, Christin Simms. The series is produced by Sinking Ship Entertainment, Leif Films, Saga Film and Amazon MGM Studios. Pilar Golden serves as the series creator, executive producer and showrunner.
Check out the trailer below, as well images and an exclusive interview with Golden.
Why do you think this is a unique coming-of-age series and how does it also uniquely position a type of story we may be familiar with: someone feeling the impact of a clash of cultures/being a fish out of water
I grew up during the Buffy [the Vampire Slayer], Dawson’s Creek, Angel, Felicity, and My So-Called Life era, and [I] am a big fan of shows that allow young adults to take up space, make mistakes, and have big feelings. With the exception of [The] Fresh Prince [of Bel-Air] and Sister, Sister, which are both comedies, most of the YA shows I watched growing up didn’t have protagonists who looked like me. Beyond Black Beauty is unique not only because it showcases a predominantly Black cast, but also because it’s an ode to Black women. Black women are rarely allowed to be the star, let alone have a plethora of feelings beyond anger. Through this lens, we explored the many depths of grief. Jolie Dumont isn’t just a typical teenager, she grieves a life she was once accustomed to while also growing into the young woman she’s meant to be.
How does the series stay true to the novel while also adding new elements as well?
The show pays homage to the novel in that like Anna Sewell, we were committed to telling the story of the humanity of horses. At the center of the show, the family has raised and trained horses for generations. Like the novel, our main focus was on kindness and sympathy. You really see that through Jolie’s connection with Beauty. Though Jolie is a horse girl through and through, even she needs to learn how to see the world through the lens of a vulnerable creature like Beauty. While the show doesn’t follow the narrative aspect of the novel, Beauty is just as much a three-dimensional character as our family.
This is the latest in a string of projects to talk about the urban cowboy/horseback riding community that exists in Baltimore, why was this important to highlight?
I’m originally from Maryland, PG [Prince George’s] County to be specific. While I’m not from Baltimore, when I thought about where I wanted the show to exist, a moniker of home felt like the obvious answer. Plus, while The Wire is one of my favorite shows, as storytellers, it’s our job to show audiences all facets of a community. Baltimore, Black people, urban ranches are not monolithic.
What can you tease about Jolie’s journey throughout the series and where we find her at during the beginning of the series versus the end.
Jolie starts where any ambitious person starts, needing a strong dose of humility. To operate in the professional equestrian space, you need wealth. Horses, horse care, stables, training, it all costs more than you can imagine, but to be an elite athlete, we’ve seen so many examples where talent supersedes wealth. In the writers’ room, we always asked the question, how can Jolie Dumont become Serena Williams? Over the course of season one, you’ll see Jolie transition into someone more worthy of winning because she prioritizes her family and Beauty, and starts to understand the gravity of her existence in a largely white space.
And how is this series not only about Jolie’s story, but a multigenerational story about the women in this family
Young adult stories are all about the lessons you impart on the protagonist’s journey. In essence, you need a myriad of voices to help lend wisdom. For every protagonist, there is a person behind them, lifting them up. Isn’t that a microcosm of our society? This is a matriarchal family where Black women shoulder the growth of the next generation. It may not be everyone’s family, but it’s certainly mine and like any storyteller, you write what you know. This show is a love letter to the women who raised me.
What else would you like for audiences to know about the show?
Everyone took the show seriously. Everyone understood how rare it was to have this many Black people on camera and working behind the scenes. Everyone understood that making a show about Black people on horses was important for the culture because historically, westerns have excluded us. Every cast member did horse training with our wonderful horse wranglers, Rick and Sue Parker, who ensured our cast looked the part. Most importantly, our Jolie, Kaya Coleman, really shined and blossomed into a horse girl without us asking her to. The connection between Jolie and Beauty is authentic because of Kaya’s commitment to the journey of Jolie Dumont.
